We start with the ‘largest’ of the small African countries and work our way down to the smallest country in Africa – created by Africaranking.

10) Burundi (27,830 km2)

Burundi is located in Central Africa, next to Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi is one of the poorest countries in Africa with an income of just $818 per person per year (in purchasing power). Almost the entire population (90%) works in agriculture and more than 80% lives below the poverty line. Only 2% of the population has access to a bank and telecommunications almost does not exist.

Only 600 square kilometers of forest remains in the country and it is rapidly shrinking due to clearcutting for agriculture. In 2016 Burundi was named the least happy nation in the world due to its crushing poverty, corruption, low health & education services and widespread hunger.

9) Rwanda(26,798 km2)

Rwanda is the smallest landlocked country in Africa. Despite its small size it has a population of over 11 million people. This makes it one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. In 1994 in just 100 days at least 800,000 Rwandans (20% of the population, and 70% of the Tutsi population) were killed. Roughly 2 million people (mostly Hutus) became refugees.

While Rwanda remains one of the poorest countries in Africa it has recovered somewhat from this black page in the world’s history. Tourism is the fastest growing sector in the country as it is seen as a safe country despite its history. The main tourist attraction is spotting mountain gorillas in the wild.

8) Djibouti (23,200 km2)

Djibouti is located in the Horn of Africa next to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Its neighbours are Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The 850,000 strong population is mostly Islamic and use two official languages: Arabic and French. Because of the very low rainfall agriculture only makes up 3% of the GDP in the country. Services dominate the economy making up nearly 80% of the total.

Despite the lack of natural resources and low rainfall the economy is growing rapidly at 5-6% per year. Still the country has a long way to go with an average income of just $3,351 in 2016 (in purchasing power).

UK-based internet entrepreneur with love for the great continent of Africa. I'm not saying i know everything about Africa but I'm here to offer the world some of the most accurate and interesting facts about the continent.

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